As a sole proprietor, are you overwhelmed with your business?
Are the necessary evils of running a business hindering you from focusing on what your business is about?
Are you thinking about adding an employee to help ease the workload and bring back some work/life balance to your life?
Building a team is no small feat, especially if you’ve enjoyed the freedom and independence of operating your business by yourself.
Megan Beckler was recently featured on the Goodbye Past…Hello Purpose podcast, hosted by Debbie Kaminski. On the podcast, Megan shared from her own experience of transitioning from a sole proprietor to building a small, but mighty, team.
Megan and Debbie discuss six shifts in your thinking that will help you make the transition from being your own boss to being the boss of your employees.
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#1 Change your mindset.
Realize that you can’t do it all – that you’re going to need help. Identify the areas you don’t like or aren’t good at and hire someone for those tasks. Hiring an employee or contractor in the areas of bookkeeping and accounting are a good place to start.
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#2 Accept that your business will become more complex.
There will be growing pains as you add people to your business. Be patient with yourself, be patient with your staff, be patient with the process, and be patient with your profit margin! Sometimes it can take up to a year for someone to become fully integrated into the business.
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#3 Realize you are now someone’s boss and you need to be a leader.
Communication is KEY. Short weekly, if not daily, check-ins help each person to know what’s expected of them for the day/week. Monthly staff meetings bring the team together to move forward on your goals.
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#4 Get clear on your values.
Figure out your purpose and promise or vision and mission. Your values are internalized, so it’s easy for you to live them. Get them out of your head and in front of you and your potential employees!
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#5 Get the right people in the right seats.
The first step in finding help is writing a job description, so that both you and your potential employee are clear on the expectations of the newly created position. There are laws to follow as you move through the interview and hiring process – an area we can help you with if it seems a bit intimidating!
With your values and vision in black and white, you will be able to choose an employee with greater clarity and confidence. You will be able to tell whether their values line up with yours and whether they will be committed to your mission and vision for your company.
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#6 Allocate time to manage people.
Not every hour will be a “revenue-generating” hour. Time spent with your staff is not a waste of time because they’re helping you to move your vision forward. Even something small, like a note of thanks, can make a big difference.
In addition, Megan offers tips on:
- Overcoming the challenges of working from home
- Effective ways to communicate with a remote team or remote clients
- Helping a business owner get organized
We hope that you find some practical tips in this podcast that you can apply to your own small business.
Don’t be afraid to put plans in place and take the next step.
As always, if you need help moving forward, contact us! We’re here to help with any of your small business growing pains!